Lack of Enchantment
Hey peeps,
Never actually went to see the film, too busy with work and I’ve developed some random swelling on my lower-lip, so I’ll probably go later during the week. Review to be expected.
Enchanted – Before
So tomorrow I’m going to see Enchanted with the Pig with Udders. I’m slightly excited.
The film has an astounding 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, which means it is very, very good, and the critics are calling the lead actress – Amy Adams – phenomenal in her take of Snow White.
I’ll post my review tomorrow, so keep a look out!
Gym Appeal
So I’ve been going to the gym… Or trying.
Unlike the health conscious, or energetic, I’m not that into it. Why? I don’t know.
Maybe its the hassle, of traveling to the gym, getting in, warming up, doing the actual task of losing weight, sweating like a pig, coming home smelling, taking a shower. It’s TOO much effort!
Or maybe it’s the atmosphere. Big TV screens with crappy BBC soaps on them, or Sky News Sports which bores the Hell out of me. Sure, I don’t have my headphones plugged in, so I don’t hear any of it. But then I’m subjected to the horrid Radio 1, with its crappy blabbering and lame playlist, making it worse. On-top of that, I can still see the lame-ass BBC show on the display, and its worse mute.
But no, maybe it’s none of the above. Maybe it’s the fact I’m BY DEFAULT the fattest in the room! Everyone around me is lean, mean and trim. Flexed bodies, great posture, etc. etc. etc. And I’m a whale. A beached whale.
There’s a horrendous gap between the sizes of the users of my gym – it’s like you’re either horrendously fat, or horrendously anorexic. Where have all the middle men gone?
Well, maybe I should fill the void. Lose weight. And be the middle man.
Jab We Met
So I finally saw this film on Monday, and I must say, I was quite impressed.
A step away from the cartoony-antics of your average Bollywood blockbuster, where they try to cram too much into 3 hours, this one was quite leisurely in its pacing and story, and that’s what makes it one of the strongest Bollywood films of the year.
We’re introduced to Aditya. He is young, handsome and rich, but he feels anything but. His father has died, leaving behind a failing company, his mother is distanced and his fiance has left him.
Getting on-board a train, he decides to attempt suicide. But then he meets Geet – a fanatical, eccentric Punjabi girl, with a lot to say. She saves him, without realising. After a minor calamity involving missed-trains, they end up on a road trip to Punjab, where they’re introduced to a whole host of chaos.
The film is written/directed by Imtiaz Ali, who manages to nail down emotion perfectly, thanks to his amazing leads. Shahid Kapoor proves he can lead a film on his own, and his performance is solemn, moody and realistic. Aditya isn’t in-human, he’s just searching for his soul – Shahid could have very easily over-played this, but he gets it right.
Kareena Kapoor is amazing as Geet. She gets the bubbly personality just right, and there’s not much left to say except she’s perhaps the most talented mainstream young-star in Bollywood. Great show!
The story is simple, and it works well because of it. There is no ridiculous plot twist or silly moments, it really is a romance story. But in being simple, and “small,” there isn’t much in the form of lavish sets or big musical numbers. But I’m sure Om Shanti Om has enough to fill in the void.
After Chak De!, this is further proof Bollywood is coming up strong. Let’s hope Aaja Nachle is just as good!
Diwali Time!
So on Saturday, it was Diwali Time, at least in my area (our celebration is 2 weeks behind, so we have good attendance). And for the most part, it was relatively uneventful.
The day event kicks off with Arrivals and Greetings, like any party. People arrive at their own leisure, and try to say “Hi” to all they meet, ignoring the select few. Then at 8.30 pm it was Dinner, a buffet of vegetarian food. My friends and I were lumbered with the task of serving food, and so we pretty much lost our appetite (especially me, serving cuddy).
At 10pm, there were Item Numbers, then an hour of Dancing. This was followed by Raffle draw, then finished off with a final half-hour of “naach-ing”.
There was a long-winded speech in the middle of the show, about how important Gujarati is to learn, even though half the audience weren’t Gujju, and it was pretty dull, but there was a lively dance number afterwards that was cool.
All in all, an alright night. I just wish there was more drunk’n mayhem and drama – cat fight, anyone? There’s always next year…
